


Where the Heart Is

by starlightwalking



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Adopted Children, Family Fluff, Gen, Gil-galad Russingonion, Gil-galad Son of Plothole, Kid Fic, M/M, Reunions, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:14:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27390280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlightwalking/pseuds/starlightwalking
Summary: Maedhros comes home to his family.
Relationships: Ereinion Gil-galad & Fingon | Findekáno, Ereinion Gil-galad & Fingon | Findekáno & Maedhros | Maitimo, Ereinion Gil-galad & Maedhros | Maitimo, Fingon | Findekáno/Maedhros | Maitimo
Comments: 21
Kudos: 73





	Where the Heart Is

**Author's Note:**

  * For [8Lottie8](https://archiveofourown.org/users/8Lottie8/gifts).



> Inspired by 8Lottie8’s request for Maedhros, Fingon, and Gil-galad + “Reunions” and/or “Take Me Instead” from this [Found Family prompt list](https://arofili.tumblr.com/post/629184323680124929/found-family-prompts)!
> 
> I was going to go the angstiest possible route with this but the only context I could think of would’ve taken a thousand words just in setup so I scrapped it and did this instead, lol. Have some probably-unrealistic tooth-rottingly-fluffy Russingon kidfic!
> 
> Also, I almost titled this "Atya vs. Stinky Man" lmao.
> 
> Set during the Long Peace.

“Atya!” Gil-galad cried, his little face lighting up as he saw his father striding down the hall. Heedless of proper princely etiquette, he rushed forward and barrelled into Maedhros, grabbing tight at his legs and beaming up at his (very, very) tall father.

Maedhros’ face split into a grin. His son barely reached his waist (they joked he got his height from Fingon’s side of the family, when in reality he got everything from Fingon’s aunt, his birth mother) but he’d grown a few inches since Maedhros had seen him last. Back then he was level with his thighs; now he could reach up to tickle Maedhros’ stomach as his other father was so fond of doing to him.

“Stop that,” Maedhros scolded gently, swatting Gil’s hands away. It wasn’t as if he could feel it beneath his armor, but Gil thought it was hilarious when he pretended to be overcome with fits of giggles. There was no one else, not even Fingon, who could make Maedhros laugh like that.

“Where’s your adar?” he asked, scooping Gil up into his arms.

“Dunno!” Gil shrugged. “Atya, put me on your shoulders?”

Maedhros couldn’t say no, though he worried Gil’s head would brush the ceiling if he did so. “Don’t you think you’re tall enough?” he asked even as he lifted Gil up and settled him on his shoulders.

Gil immediately clapped his hands over Maedhros’ eyes. “Nope!” he exclaimed. “When I’m as tall as you, then I’ll be tall enough!”

“I don’t know,” Maedhros said thoughtfully, squinting through the little gaps between Gil’s fingers and carefully making his way forward. “Your adar is awfully short…what if you only get to his height?”

“But you’re tall, and you’re my atya,” Gil pointed out. Maedhros sighed: Gil was still too young to really understand the truth of his heritage, even should they explain it to him.

“I suppose,” he said instead of something damning. “And your Uncle Turukáno, your adar’s brother, is nearly as tall as I am.”

Gil snorted, moving his hands so they wrapped around Maedhros’ neck. His chin rested on Maedhros’ head, and he felt Gil’s jaw move as he protested, “No way!”

“It’s true,” Maedhros said solemnly, glancing up to see his son staring down at him. “You’ve never met him, but he’s almost as scary as I am.”

Gil scoffed. In the early days, when he’d grown comfortable with Fingon but had just barely met Maedhros, he’d been terrified of him. It broke Maedhros’ heart to see this little child so afraid, flinching back like he was a monster ( _and you are,_ some treacherous part of himself whispered, the part that was easier to ignore when Finno and Gil were around), especially when Fingon clearly adored him so and wanted Maedhros to love him too…

Maedhros’ love wasn’t the problem, but his scarred and broken face. In time Gil had come to love him, too—his exuberant welcome and his ease atop Maedhros’ shoulders was proof enough of that—but he still remembered how scary Maedhros had been. Gil probably still thought he was hideous, but good for scaring away _real_ monsters. At least, that’s what Maedhros hoped.

“Who’s scarier than you are?” Fingon asked, rounding the corner. His eyes shone with a joyous light to behold his husband and his son smiling together, and the tenderness in his smile made Maedhros’ chest warm.

“Turno,” Maedhros said. “Don’t you agree?”

“Hmmm…” Fingon made a show of considering, even as Gil-galad wriggled and demanded to get down. Maedhros crouched so Fingon could lift him off his shoulders.

At last Fingon tapped Gil’s nose. “You know what, I think your atya’s right,” he pronounced. “My brother _is_ scarier—if only because he’s so scarily boring!”

“Atya isn’t boring!” Gil agreed. “Atya fights dragons all day and builds castles out of ice and breathes fire into Stinky Man’s face!”

Maedhros winced: “Stinky Man” was Fingon’s playful name for Þauron in Gil’s bedtime stories, where he was a much more comic villain prone to tripping and falling off mountains or wearing false mustaches that get ripped off by a brave Adanic warrior, exposing him as a spy. It took the sting out of the worst of Maedhros’ memories of his torment, which was half the point, but he couldn’t help but wish he was half as valiant as the fiery hero in Gil’s stories.

“And I’m nearly as boring as Uncle Turno,” Fingon sighed. “What do I do but send you off to your nursemaids and write letters to people who hate me?”

“You tell him stories,” Maedhros offered. “You’re always there to tuck him into bed while I’m far away in the east. You give him kisses—”

“Ewww,” Gil groaned, only for both his fathers to descend upon him and kiss him until he squirmed out of Fingon’s hold and ran away.

Before Fingon could chase after him, Maedhros stopped him and took the opportunity to kiss his husband thoroughly on the lips. Fingon gasped and leaned into him, but pulled away all too quickly.

“Not now, love,” he murmured, but the way his eyes shone and the gold in his hair gleamed in the torchlight was all Maedhros could ever ask for.

“ _Gross_ ,” Gil-galad shouted, then darted around the corner.

“Gil, come back!” Fingon laughed. “We’re going to have dinner as a family, with Haru too, and then I’ll give you a bath—”

“No baths! I hate taking baths!” Gil whined, even as Maedhros strode ahead, catching up quickly thanks to his long legs, and grabbed him firmly by the hand.

“I’ll take you to the baths no matter what, you dirty little elfling!” Fingon scolded. “I know you visited the stables earlier today; I can smell the horse on you!”

“Take me instead, if Gil doesn’t want to,” Maedhros offered, winking at his husband. “I’ve been riding for days, I’m sure I stink worse than Gil does.”

“Not as bad as Stinky Man,” Fingon quipped, but a fire smoldered in his eyes as he brushed Maedhros’ shoulder. _I plan on taking you more than just to the baths,_ he whispered across their bond. _It’s been far too long._

Maedhros shivered with anticipation. _I look forward to it,_ he replied.

“How about we talk Haru into bathing you instead?” Maedhros proposed.

Gil considered this. “ _Only_ if it’s his bath,” he decided. “It’s _huge_ , like a swimming pool!”

“You have the best ideas, Russo!” Fingon exclaimed. _How long do you think we could convince my father to handle him?_

 _Long enough for whatever you’re planning,_ Maedhros replied, and knew that while he certainly was not the _luckiest_ elf in Beleriand, he was the most blessed when it came to this, his perfect little family.

**Author's Note:**

> Rebloggable on tumblr [here](https://arofili.tumblr.com/post/629381174379298816/reunions-andor-take-me-instead-with-maedhros).
> 
> Thanks for reading, and please comment if you enjoyed!  
> You can find me on tumblr [@arofili](http://arofili.tumblr.com/).


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